Sampling the land along the Sun's exact bearing at maximum.
Everywhere in Europe this is a sunset eclipse, with the Sun barely a fist above the skyline as it peaks, so treat it like one. Get somewhere high, coastal or open, with nothing between you and the western sky. A rooftop beats a garden. A hill beats a street. In the path of totality a low western ridge can hide the whole thing.
Open, high ground within reach. Height helps you catch a low Sun, but check your spot faces west with nothing on the skyline. Ranked by height and closeness, not yet by the western view itself.
During every partial phase, even at more than nine tenths covered, the Sun will burn your retina in seconds. Use ISO 12312-2 eclipse glasses, not sunglasses. Only during the brief total phase itself, and only if you are inside the path, may you look with the naked eye, and glasses go back on the instant the edge flares. No glasses? A pinhole in card projects the crescent onto paper. Phones, cameras and binoculars need a solar filter on the front.